Early Sunday morning, a display suite for a new tower downtown was broken into. The thieves stole two large plasma screen TV’s which were located right near the front window… in very plain sight.
The theft of plasma and LCD televisions is becoming a bigger concern as more and more people are having them installed in both their homes and offices. In most cases, the TV’s are mounted on large brackets on the wall that allow for very easy removal by someone who knows how to do it. Only about 30 seconds are required to remove most TV’s by a crook who has a pair of clippers with him ready to cut all of the cables (40 seconds if he has to take the time to unplug them). Some of the brackets come with a security lock… but we have seen quite a few thefts where the crooks have the key (it’s more like an allen key than a real key) and were able to remove the TV just as quickly.
What’s worse than losing your new plasma or LCD TV once is the reality that the thieves will likely be back soon to steal the replacement.
While you cannot make your premises completely burglary proof, you can do a lot to ensure that any burglary that does happen would not be considered a ‘success’ by the burglars. Limiting the value that a crook can easily remove from your home or office will go a long way to help encourage him to try out someone else’s place before returning for another attempt at a difficult mark. Keep in mind, these are not very industrious people you are trying to protect yourself from… make it difficult for them and they are very likely to just move on to an easier target that presents less of a challenge.
What should you do?
The goal is to do everything you can to slow someone down when they break in. In the case of the majority of our clients on the Westside, that means “five minute proofing” your most valuable, or high risk, possessions. (I’ll have another post soon to explain the whole concept of five minute proofing, but in a nutshell it just means to ensure that, in this case, the TV would take a minimum of five minutes to get out of the premises after the alarm has been tripped.)
The best way to ‘five minute proof’ a wall mounted television is to wrap a thin bicycle cable lock around and through both the back of the TV and the wall bracket. You will never see it, but it makes it very difficult to quickly remove the TV and get out. Provided that the alarm has tripped early enough and an immediate response is on the way… it will be very, very difficult for the crooks to get the TV and get away.
Most cable locks cost about $25.00 and almost any type will do.
Here is a link to an article from the Courier last year that talks about a rash of plasma TV thefts on the Westside.